About
SomaLiteracy is part of a broader understanding of the mind-body connection and the recognition that the body plays a significant role in how we experience and navigate the world.
What is SomaLiteracy?
SomaLiteracy refers to the ability to understand, interpret, and express oneself through the language of the body and bodily sensations. It involves a heightened awareness and sensitivity to the messages and signals that the body conveys and the capacity to use this somatic (related to the body) information for various purposes, such as self-expression, communication, and personal development.
SomaLiteracy is about being “literate” in the language of the body, just as one would be literate in a spoken or written language. This concept is often associated with somatic practices, which emphasize the importance of tuning into the body’s wisdom and using it as a source of information and knowledge.
SomaLiteracy can be developed through various practices, including mindfulness, movement therapies, dance, yoga, and other body-oriented approaches. Individuals who are somatically literate are often more in tune with their emotions, better able to manage stress, and more adept at expressing themselves through non-verbal means.
SomaLiteracy is part of a broader understanding of the mind-body connection and the recognition that the body plays a significant role in how we experience and navigate the world.
How we work
When we work with clients, we are facilitating a process that engages the whole person, including the stories they carry that keep them from being embodied and prevent them from being present to themselves and the world around them. When clients establish more coherency in their bodies, they can change their stories.
Our work with clients is informed by the following principles:
- We live in bodies.
- Our bodies tell a story.
- The story of the body is as important as the story of the mind.
- Our mind-story dictates behaviour and self-concept.
- The body-story and the mind-story are interconnected.
- When the body-story and the mind-story are misaligned, our self-concept is informed by the mind-story alone.
- When our self-concept is disconnected from our body-story, we experience fragmentation, which may feel like anxiety, depression, dissociation, or “stuckness”.
- The SomaLiteracy process is a self-restoration process. Our work reconnects the mind and body relationship so that our self-concept is integrated with sensory reality.
Who we are...
Neelam Bains
Neelam is an expert in somatic attunement and activation. With a background in osteopathy, mindfulness and continuum movement, Neelam brings over 25 years of somatic-focused clinical practice to her therapeutic work with clients.